YOU REALLY never know what you are going to do in an emergency situation until it happens. You would like to think you will do everything right but you really don’t know how you will react. I have had many chances to find out how I handle high pressure situations.

During my wedding my matron of honor fainted in the middle of the ceremony. It was very dramatic. She called out my name and down she went, taking out the Greek column at the same time. Luckily she was fine and the ceremony went on. When we looked at the tape, when she fainted one of the groomsmen from the other side of the room ran over to her. He was down on the floor attending to her in just a few seconds. It is a great memory and I am happy she made my wedding so memorable.

YOU HEAR stories of super strength in stressful moments. I have had one of those moments. My mom collapsed and I caught her. I had to pick her up and carry her to the bed. At the time my mom outweighed me by fifty pounds. I do not even remember straining. I did not even think about it. I just lifted her as if she weighed nothing.

Sometimes stressful situations makes us do strange, unexplainable things. When I was pregnant, I thought I was going into labor. I screamed for my husband and told him I thought I was having contractions. He turned around and went into the hamper and gave me a couple of pieces of dirty clothes. I just looked at him like he was crazy and if you ask him about it today he has no answers as to why he did that.

RECENTLY, I had to think fast in a life threatening situation. I was on my way to an audition and about 10 miles before I got there a SUV made a left turn in front of me hitting two bike riders. As I slammed on my breaks I saw two bodies fly into the air. www.thecwaustin.com/dpp/wildcard_11/cw-austin-star-semifinalist-mariaI WAS LATE to the audition; however, it did not make a difference. I still got an audition spot. I even made it to the semi-finals. I don’t know why some chose to leave and why others chose to stay. I am glad I stayed.

No matter what the situation, use common sense and you will be fine. Sometimes you end up with a great story or you could actually help save a life.